Review Centre: Pop Bands

"Absolutely brilliant night. Your music certainly brought a positive vibe to our night. I’m sure we will see you all again soon!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"S Smith Hi Paul, Just wanted to say thank you to you and Mick for making our wedding anniversary party so special. I had many colleagues come up to me asking for your details, so they all loved it to! Must admit, nearly lost my voice singing along to "Angels" . Hope you are available in February for my son's 21st. Thanks once again, you were both amazing. Samantha Smith"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thoroughly impressed with The Southern Sons who played for our wedding. Their acoustic set for our drinks reception was perfect, and then their evening set was fun and energetic and got everyone up. Everyone had an amazing time. You guys are incredible!” Jack and Erin, Wedding couple, May 2018"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Ottima musica ben suonata. Musica pop anni 80 . "

Reply by Fingers Pie
Ciao, grazie davvero. Speriamo di vederti ancora al prossimo concerto.

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Vasia & John are the epitome of elegance. They are passionate, extremely detail oriented and they offer something unique! I had several guests coming to congratulate me and Mark for our choice. Vasia has a magical voice and she roamed around captivating all of us, and John with his beautiful piano impressed us with his terrific skills. The songs they performed were very well received by everyone! I would definitely say that having a great live show going on, greatly elevated the experience. Since we had nothing but a great time on our special day, I recommend them with all my heart. We had been presented with several other choices at first and we were a little bit uneasy choosing something we found ourselves, but it was the best decision!"

Reply by Smooth Mood Project
Joanna thank you for your kind words, it means a lot to us. We wish you and Mark all the best! Vasia & John Smooth Mood Project Music For Your Finest Events

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We would just like to say a massive THANK YOU!! for an amazing night. Everyone really enjoyed the band!! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We have just got home from the venue and not even had a chance to unpack yet but I just needed to email you to tell you how bloody amazing all of you was last night. I’m pretty sure every single guest commented on your performance. We literally could not have been happier. So glad we found you. You made the evening SO special ❤️ [You are] Super talented, natural performers & you all brought a whole load of love to the dance floor. Cannot thank you enough seriously. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We did an event at our hotel and we needed some acoustic music. Kanela was just what we needed to get the right vibe at the event."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Absolutely awesome covers !!! great playing ... very good job !"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"You never fail me with your music creation.. :) thank you' Artistic Director of Maya Dance Theatre"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We had the absolute pleasure of having Connor, a young, incredibly gifted cellist, play at our wedding. From the start, he was so accommodating with our song choices and took the time to understand exactly how we wanted everything to sound. His performance was nothing short of beautiful; he brought such emotion and elegance to the ceremony, creating the perfect atmosphere. We received so many compliments from our guests. He truly made our day even more special. Highly recommended!!! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Fantastic Band - great variety - excellent harmonies - highly recommended"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"What a fabulous band! Attended a family party where they were playing and they made the whole night absolutely perfect, will definitely be booking these guys for future events ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We love giving parties and also being guests and this band was the very best we ever experienced - they were fantastic! There were mainly two generations present around 40ish and over 70 and ALL our guests danced all evening, even an 89 year old! The atmosphere was indescribable and even the bar staff were dancing behind the bar. We left it up to the band to choose which songs, just gave them a few of our favourites from their list and that worked so well - as they clearly could read their audience. And to start with the saxophone player coming in on a solo was just brill."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Charlie Jennison's debut album for Maine's Invisible Music Records is a smooth piece of work. "Smooth" not in the sense of the saccharine stuff served up by contemporary jazz players, but smooth as in classy unpretentiousness in the playing. Jennison is an alumnus of the Do'ah Wild Music Ensemble, a New Hampshire group which recorded for Global Pacific label. He has since gravitated to jazz having recorded with singers Kathleen Kolman and Leila Percy, among others. Jennison has also worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry and Buddy DeFranco and is on the faculty of New Hampshire's Phillips Exeter Academy. Forsaking standard material for his first album, the play list is made up of ten Jennison originals all in various tempi and style, but which start getting repetitious along the way as ideas get thin. Some of the better pieces include "To You, From Me" which features Jennison on alto with some exciting drum breaks by Ken Clark. Another piece spotlighting Jennison's alto, which sounds like Phil Woods when Woods is in a mellow mood, is the lovely ballad "Georgie," with "My Anne" rivaling "Georgie" for sheer musical attractiveness. The tenor takes over on "Watch Your Step" with Jennison showing some incredible dexterity with daring fingering technique. There's a nice blues with a funky piano solo by Jim Butka and good bass strumming from John Hunter on "Amanda's Blues." Jennison brings out his soprano on "Rain in My Coffee" which has a light Latin beat with more good piano from Jim Butka. But virtually all tunes on this session take the same course. There's an introduction establishing the basic melody structure, followed by some technically compelling fingering after which there's a return to the melody. No matter how good the instrumentalist is —and Jennison is very good—unless the original material is superior, it's not going to hold one's attention for a whole sitting. And that is the case here. I have heard Jennison on other albums and he handles standard stuff very well. It would have behooved him to have put a couple of those on this CD. This would have strengthened the credibility of the original material."

Reply by Charlie Jennison Quartet
I appreciate Dave Nathan's willingness to review my flagship release and also recognize his candor in suggesting that the original material I wrote could have been strengthened by including some standard tunes as well. I would like to note that, in more than one instance, I used the framework of a jazz standard as the foundation for a new composition. For example, on the track, "To You, From Me," I employed the chord progression to Cole Porter's "You Do Something To Me." My tune, "Amanda's Blues" is also just a variation of a standard minor blues. With a lifetime of experience playing, I now recognize his observation of "virtually all tunes on this session take the same course," to be spot on. This was, after all, my first (and only) excursion into the realm of recorded jazz, and as a young player, I still had a lot to learn about crafting the presentation of material in a more interesting way. Now that I am getting close to 80 years old, I have decided to create another album of original material with the same players, kind of like a bookend to wrap up a successful career teaching and playing (although not recording). Look for a release sometime in 2026!

Rating: 8 / 10 Share this review: